On March 4, 2017, Terp Thon hosted its eighth annual dance marathon at the University of Maryland, as students and members of the community gathered together to raise funds for the kids.

Terp Thon, according to their website, is "a student organization at the University of Maryland that works year-round to raise money and awareness for Children's National Health System in Washington D.C." Children's Nation is their local Children's Miracle Network Hospital.

Miracle Network Dance Marathons are a nationwide movement, with over 250 schools hosting their own dance marathon to raise funds for their local Children's Miracle Network Hospital.

Terp Thon began at the University of Maryland in 2010. In its first year, Terp Thon raised $53,394.18 for Children's National Hospital. Since its first year, Terp Thon has worked hard to become bigger and better.

A lot of work goes into planning the event. Though the dance marathon itself was in March, planning is a year-long process to make sure Terp Thon is the best it can be. The Terp Thon Planning Team consists of both internal and external committees. This year, there were 320 people apart of the planning team.

The event is a total of twelve hours, all of which need to be spent standing on your feet. The allotted twelve hours represents the typical length of a nurse's shift at Children's National.

The duration of the twelve hours included speeches from the Miracle Kids (kids who have been treated at Children's National), performances from the kids, a speech from UMD's president, and of course, lots of dancing.

There were at least 1,500 people in attendance, with about 100 teams. The highest fundraising sorority was Sigma Delta Tau, while the highest fundraising fraternity was Phi Chi Theta.

This year, Terp Thon set a goal to raise one million dollars, making their slogan for the event "Bigger, Bolder, and 1 Million Stronger." Though this was a big goal they had set for themselves, they were on a mission to succeed and raise the funds for the kids.

At the end of the night, the final fundraising goal was revealed; Terp Thon had raised $1,001,394.26 for the kids. Together, we proved that we can be bigger, bolder, and 1 MILLION stronger!